By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

POLAND – It isn’t often that someone lights a spark by striking out.

Poland’s Robyn Gauthier managed just that Tuesday. By reaching base on a dropped third strike, she lit the fuse on a momentum swing. St. Dom’s allowed two runs and committed three errors in the inning, as Poland went on to a 4-1 win in its WMC regular-season finale.

“I was really mad that I struck out obviously,” said Gauthier, the Poland third baseman. “But I just knew it hit the ground. So I just took off. I was like, I need to get on first base.’ I thought she had me, but she didn’t. That kind of started it off.”

Gauthier tied the game, and the Knights took the lead moments later. Poland (11-5) added two more runs in the fifth to finish the regular season with five straight victories. That came after a string of three straight losses in the middle of the season.

“I think we just got sick of losing,” said Gauthier. “It got really old. At the beginning of the season, we started (4-0). Then we started losing, and it felt like we got in this big slump. We knew we needed to pick it up.”

Kelli O’Connor allowed just two hits and struck out 11. Emily Goss had an infield hit in the fourth, and Robyn Kennedy reached on a single in the seventh.

“Kelli pitched awesome,” said Poland coach Susan Robbins. “I definitely think she’s coming on at the right time.”

Goss pitched a fine game for the Saints (11-3). She only surrendered four hits.

The Saints took a 1-0 lead in the fourth. After a Goss hit, Katelyn Bermudez came on to run. She scored on a Micaela Kelly fielders’ choice when Poland had Bermudez at third, but the ball got away from the outfielder covering the base.

Poland bounced right back with the help of three errors and the dropped third strike in the bottom of the inning.

“Basically, all the runs were unearned,” said St. Dom’s coach Dan Samson. “(Cortney Clark) had the triple, but the girls didn’t perform what they were supposed to do. I’m not going to take anything away from them. Our score was unearned also.”

After Gauthier reached base, she stole second. The throw went into the outfield and past the centerfielder, allowing Gauthier to score. Rachel Roberts reached on an error and stole second and third. She scored on a Brianna Pratte fly out.

“It felt much better,” said Gauthier. “The momentum went up and our spirits went way up. We always play better when we’re having fun. After that, it was fun.”

The Knights got two more in the fifth. Clark led off with a triple and scored on a Mallory Huskins’ bunt. Gauthier singled and stole second. She scored on an error on an Abby Perkins grounder.

“I think the girls are playing a little more confident,” said Robbins. “We came right out of the gate and were doing a lot of things well. We hit that little lull. We weren’t executing, and we were making errors. Now we’re executing. We’re taking the momentum and doing something. We’re turning it around.”